


Holiday Whosit

by AFireInTheAttic



Series: wfn winter wonderland 2018 [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, How the Grinch Stole Christmas AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-09-24 06:47:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17095841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AFireInTheAttic/pseuds/AFireInTheAttic
Summary: In all reality, Kira wasn’t sure what she was doing, or if Scott was right. But she hated to see the way the Mayor treated him, and—well, he did have a few valid points. Maybe they should give the Grinch a good chance. She never had understood what it was that made people hate the Grinch so much. Sure, he came into town and scared people from time to time, but…no one could just be so…cruel. There had to be reasoning behind his actions. She wanted to know what they were, and no one would give her a straight answer.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted from @kiraandscott. I wrote this about three years ago, but now have the opportunity to fit it into another challenge, haha. Very lightly edited. 
> 
> For @writingfeedbacknetwork's winter wonderland challenge! Prompt 1: Grinch/Scrooge

Kira carefully adjusted her teacup hat and brushed her hands over her dress. She loved the way everyone came together for Christmas every year—the giving, the singing, the fashion—it was all so magical.

Though even she could see that the sales every year were getting outrageous, and her parents did tend to get—well, overly excited. So…maybe it’s a little out of hand.

“Kira, are you ready?” her mother called from the living room. Her mother, ever the pragmatist, had set up the Christmas tree the day after St. Fizzin’s Day. There was exactly one wreath and four holiday scented candles in each room. Her Christmas shopping was done and already wrapped, underneath the Christmas tree. Golden lights outlined their house, and in the yard, she had set up animatronic reindeer that seemed to be eating the grass—which was trimmed to the neighborhood regulated 2 inches.

Her father was a little more excitable, of course. He was still shopping for presents, and not one of them was wrapped yet. He was just outside Kira’s bedroom as she stepped into the hallway, vibrating with excitement. His sweater was covered in jingling bells and he was wearing a hat that matched. He beamed at her. “It’s almost time for them to announce the Holiday Cheer Meister!”

“I know, I know,” she said, smiling at him. “I’m ready to go.” She grabbed her teapot bag and hurried down the hall. Her father came jingling behind her.

Outside, there were exactly three inches of snow (her mother had checked that morning), and the entire neighborhood was glowing. Though there was no sun in the sky, the snow reflected the Christmas lights merrily.

Her mother was waiting on the sidewalk, dressed in red and gold and smiling regally. “Come along,” she called, almost sing song.

Yes, Kira thought, as she followed her parents down the streets to the center of town. This was her favorite time of year.

* * *

Scott and his mother were already waiting in the town square. Melissa was chatting amicably with their neighbors, John and Claudia. Their son and his best friend, Stiles, was home sick with the Who Flu.

It was probably a good thing. Stiles might have stopped Scott from doing what he knew needed to be done. Stiles could be reckless, but he and his parents were close friends with the Mayor’s family. He couldn’t see how important it was to Scott that no one be left behind on Christmas, which was Scott’s favorite holiday. Just like any good Who. Or maybe they could see it was important not to let anyone be left behind—they just didn’t consider the Grinch to be someone. That didn’t seem right to Scott.

He had an idea, so crazy it just might work. He just hoped he wouldn’t be run out of Whoville if it didn’t.

* * *

As Kira and her parents reached the center of town, the mayor had already taken the stage with his assistant, who was tapping on the microphone to see if it was working. A hush settled over the crowd, and Kira tried to weasel her way to the front. Maybe this year, someone new would be Cheer Meister! It was always the Mayor, and as friendly as she found Allison, the Mayor’s daughter, she was tired of the same old routine.

As Mayor Argent began speaking, she noticed when of her classmates up ahead in the crowd, starting to edge forward. She thought his name was Scott, though she wasn’t sure—he was noteworthy because his parents were divorced, he was exceptionally kind, and he was the most beautiful Who boy in their year. He usually tended to keep to himself, but today, he was moving forward in the crowd, like he was going to...do something.

She watched him curiously as the Mayor opened his envelope to announce the Cheer Meister, and gasped with everyone else when he said, before the Mayor could speak, “I nominate the Grinch!”

* * *

Everyone was staring at him.

“Melissa,” Mayor Argent said, voice full of disappointment. “Surely your son must not—Shouldn’t you be teaching him better than this?”

For a brief moment, Scott wished he hadn’t spoken at all. He hated how the Mayor thought he was so superior to his mother! Just because she was a single mom…It was rare in Whoville but it happened, and he thought he had turned out great!

He squared his shoulders. “Mom had nothing to do with this. It’s my idea. But why shouldn’t we include the Grinch? Maybe if we welcome him into the community, he’ll see we aren’t so bad and stop being mean!”

“That’s a very nice sentiment, but—just last week, the Grinch caused a huge car accident,” Mayor Argent said. He didn’t like Scott, either—though that was probably because he’d been dating his daughter for a while.

“I think that could have been prevented, if we weren’t so scared of him,” he argued right back.  “Maybe if we let him come into town, we’ll know how to act around him. We’ll all be happier and safer.”

There was lots of murmuring now, and the Mayor looked prepared to laugh it all off. But Scott wouldn’t let it go so easy, he’d—

“He’s right!” someone called from the back of the crowd.

The murmurs crescendoed as everyone twisted to see who else had spoken.

* * *

The crowd parted in front of Kira, and nervously she started to walk forward. They all whispered furiously as she walked by, but she kept her chin up as she made her way to Scott’s side.

In all reality, she wasn’t sure what she was doing, or if Scott  _was_  right. But she hated to see the way the Mayor treated him, and—well, he did have a few valid points. Maybe they  _should_  give the Grinch a good chance. She never had understood what it was that made people hate the Grinch so much. Sure, he came into town and scared people from time to time, but…no one could just be so…cruel. There had to be reasoning behind his actions. She wanted to know what they were, and no one would give her a straight answer.

“Kira,” Mayor Argent said, looking disappointed. “I expected better from you. Let me quote you the rules for the Cheer Meister should be selected. ‘The term “Grinchy” shall apply when Christmas Spirit is in short supply.’ Keeping that in mind, do the two of you really think the Grinch would be our holiday Cheer Meister?”

Scott started in with, “But that’s not fair!”

She grabbed his arm and shook his head. “But the Book of Who says this, too. ‘No matter how different a Who may appear, he will always be welcomed with Holiday Cheer,” she called out. “Don’t you think we ought to give that opportunity to the Grinch, too?”

“Nice,” Scott whispered to her.

She grinned at him.

“Fine,” the Mayor said, sighing. “But the two of you get to climb Mount Crumpit and tell him.”

At this, she could hear her parents protesting, but she just nodded her head. To Scott, she said, “I need to change shoes.”

“You don’t have to come,” he offered. “It was my idea.”

“But it’s a good idea,” she said, shrugging. She wouldn’t mind spending the time with him, either. She just hoped her natural clumsiness wouldn’t make too much of an appearance as she climbed the mountain with him. She squeezed his arm again. “I’m coming.”

He smiled, ducking his head a little. There were snowflakes caught on his eyelashes and she felt her heart flutter as he looked back up at her. “I’ll meet you here in twenty minutes?”

“Deal,” she said.

* * *

“Scott, are you out of your mind?” his mother said, grabbing him by the shoulders. She looked incredibly somber, despite the fact that she was wearing a Christmas tree dress with actual tree branches and ornaments on it. “Going up against the mayor for the  _Grinch_? I know you don’t like the Mayor, but what has the Grinch ever done for us?”

“Nothing,” he said, firmly. “Nothing for us  _or_  against us.”

“That may be true, but he is  _not_  a nice person.”

“How do you know?” he demanded. “No one will tell us why the Grinch is up on Mount Crumpit, or why he’s always antagonizing us. How did he end up living there, anyway? And where did he come from?”

His mother sighed and shook her head. “Look, it was a long time ago. None of us like to talk about it.”

“Talk about what?” he pressed, but Melissa just pulled his warmest scarf out of the closet and gave it to him with a sad expression.

“You better wear your climbing clothes,” she said, taking his hands gently. “These tree branches will get in your way when you climb.”

He nodded. “I love you, Mom.”

She kissed him on his snout and smiled. “I love you, too. Be careful. And look after Kira.”

“I will,” he promised, and then hurried down the hall to his bedroom. His twenty minutes were nearly up.

* * *

Kira had avoided the confrontation with her parents by darting through the crowd, hurrying home, and afterward climbing out her back window so her parents wouldn’t see her. She knew what her mother would say:

“It’s too dangerous.”

“The Grinch will kill you.”

“Why are you helping that McCall boy?”

“The Mayor is a good man! Why are you doing this?”

To be fair, her dad probably would have been a little more supportive—or at least gentler in his criticism. Still, she had no interest in having that conversation.

No matter. She made it back to Town Square in seventeen minutes, and pulled her hood up so no one would recognize her. Whos were naturally distrustful, but Christmas did tend to soften that. Everyone around her was too busy complaining about her and Scott’s actions to notice her, so she had a free pass—for now.

“Hey,” Scott said, coming to stand next to her. “You ready?”

She glanced at her watch. Twenty minutes on the dot. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

He nodded, and the two of them hurried through town.

* * *

They’d been climbing the mountain for five minutes, and Scott was starting to feel awkward. “So, do you have all your Christmas shopping done?” he asked. It seemed like an appropriate question to ask. All Whos loved Christmas, and he could see that she was no different. She’d looked at all the lights with awe as they’d made their way through town, and several times he’d caught her eyeing window displays.

“Well, I’m still trying to figure out what to buy Allison,” she said, grabbing hold of a slender pine tree to pull herself up. “I had decided on a WhoPod before, but now I’m not sure that’s enough to say, ‘Sorry for publicly yelling at your dad.’ If you have any suggestions for something that would convey that message, they’d be much appreciated,” she joked, grinning at him.

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I didn’t really expect anyone to speak up on my behalf. I wasn’t sure the mayor would agree to my plan at all!”

Kira hummed and hoisted herself over a rock. She turned to offer him a hand up, arm stretching down in a beautiful line. “Maybe he’s hoping you’ll fail. You know how much he likes being Holiday Cheer Meister, and he seems convinced that he knows how the Grinch will respond”

He took her hand and pulled himself up onto the rock next to her. They stopped for a minute, breathing heavily. “Maybe,” he agreed.

Smiling apologetically, she patted his arm. “But maybe he’s wrong.” She turned to gaze at Whoville, and her expression became fond. “Our city is so beautiful…” Her voice trailed off and she frowned, dropping her gaze. She traced her fingers through the snow and drew a Christmas tree, complete with ornaments and garland. “And ostracizing.”

Scott sighed. “Unfortunately.” He stood and offered her a hand up. “We need to hurry if we want to make it back before night fall.”

Grasping his hand, she hauled herself up, ending up standing only a few inches from him. “You know,” she said slowly. “I don’t think I would have stood up for anyone else.”

The statement confuses him, because he’s not sure what’s so noteworthy of him helping her to stand on the boulder. “Right now?” He licks his lips, because they’re getting chapped in the cold. Her lips look great, though—really,  _really_  soft. He shakes himself out of that train of thought.

“No, I mean back at the Whobilation.” She looked at him contemplatively. “You really believe this will work. So…I believe you can make it work.”

He sighed and looked up the remaining mile or so that made up Mount Crumpit. “I hope so.”

* * *

Kira has a couple friends—Erica, Isaac, and Boyd—who claim to visit the Grinch all the time. She wouldn’t have believed them if Boyd hadn’t corroborated the story. Erica and Isaac have a tendency toward exaggeration, but Boyd is deadpan and believable.

Plus their description of the door is down to a tee.

Scott knocks on the door, almost hesitant. “I hope he’ll listen before he kicks us out,” he says, worried.

“I guess we’ll see,” she says. There’s no sound behind the door, and she’s quickly losing her optimism. Her friends had never indicated whether or not they’d made it  _past_ the door, and she was betting they hadn’t, since their descriptions had always stopped, well, here. “Maybe we should knock again?” she suggested, and leaned forward to do so.

The floor dropped out from underneath them.

* * *

“What are you little boneheads doing here?” a voice asked.

Scott sat up and found himself in a pile of garbage. Disgusted, he stood and brushed his pants off. He looked around for Kira, and found her looking dazedly upward, just behind him.

He spun around, only to see—“The—the—the—“

“The Grinch?” said the green creature, looking highly unimpressed. “Did you want something?”

Kira stumbled to her feet. “You see, it’s Christmas down in Whoville—“

“Whoville does not  _own_  Christmas, so it’s Christmas  _here_ , too,” the Grinch interrupted.

Undaunted, she pushed forward. “Yes, but every year we have a Whobilation celebration, and it’s chaired by the Holiday Cheer Meister—“

“Yes, your awful singing reaches even the heights of Mount Crumpit. Get on with it!”

“I’m trying!” she snapped, stomping forward and prodding him once in the chest, hard. “If you would just  _listen_  to me, I’d be able to finish!”

Scott wondered if this is what love feels like. Beautiful and brave, plus she loved Christmas? She might be the one.

The Grinch looked grudgingly impressed, too. “Carry on.”

“Scott nominated you to be Cheer Meister,” she finished. “Honestly, was that so difficult?” She glared at the Grinch, still clearly annoyed.

“Why on  _earth_  would I want to be Cheer Meister? What about me screams ‘jazzed about Christmas?’” This is directed at Scott, and the Grinch looks near murderous.

“Because…if you come and spend time downtown, maybe people will start treating you right and maybe—maybe you’ll be able too—“

The Grinch yawned pointedly.

Scott huffed.

“Look, if you don’t come, the mayor wins,” Kira said, crossing her arms. “And I’m really tired of Mayor Argent winning.”

This seemed to catch the Grinch’s attention. “So…if I come be your Holiday Whosit—“

“Holiday Cheer Meister,” she corrected firmly.

“Gesundheit,” he said, rolling his eyes. “If I’m your Holiday Hero, I get to stick it to the Mayor?”

“Uh, yes?” Scott said slowly, unable to believe this is what’s working for the ghoul.

A slow, sinister smile spread over his face. “Well, then,” he said, putting an arm around each of their shoulders and walking them away from the trash heap. “I do think I’ll be there.”

“Really?” Scott asked, nonplussed.

Kira doesn’t seem surprised, though. “That’s great! We’ll let everyone know.”

“Oh, of course,” said the Grinch, starting them up the stairs. “What day will that be?”

“December 22,” she said, and then the two of them were being shoved out the door. The tumbled forward, only barely catching themselves from falling on the snow.

“Smell ya later!” The Grinch called, and slammed the door behind them.

“I think that went well,” Kira said, and Scott groaned.


	2. Chapter 2

“Scott?” Kira asked, huffing as she slid down a particularly steep rock on the trail. “Do you think he’ll actually come?” She stepped out of the way so that Scott could follow after her. She shook her hair out again, groaning at the scent. She’d been washing her hair with peppermint shampoo for weeks to get into the season, and after one visit to the Grinch, it was all for nothing.

Scott failed to land on his feet, and moaned from the ground, just knocking his head back against the rock. “I don’t know,” he confessed, squinting up at her. “I hope so. But I’m not so sure it will make any kind of difference, now.”

Grabbing his arm, she helped him to stand. “Why do you say that?” she asked curiously. Sure, the Grinch had been grumpy, but he hadn’t hurt either of them. He hadn’t even set his monster dog on them—and according to Erica, he definitely wasn’t above doing that. But Boyd had just rolled his eyes at that story, so Kira had figured she was exaggerating. It sure seemed like it now.

He dusted the seat of his pants and started walking again. “Because he only agreed to come to stick it to Argent.”

She darted ahead of him and walked backwards in front of him. “Bad intentions don’t mean we won’t get the results we want. We were successful in getting him to come. Whatever happens now is…well, up to the town not to screw it up.” She grimaced. Those weren’t exactly great chances.  With a sigh, she turned around to face the path again and nearly ran into a tree—stopping just in time before getting a face full of snow and pine needles.

When she glanced at Scott, he seemed distracted.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, falling into step next to him. “Besides the obvious, I mean.”

“Hmm? Oh, nothing really. I was just wondering how you knew egging him on with the mayor would work.”

“Oh, that was easy,” she said, nodding. Her stomach grumbled and she rubbed it uncomfortably. Hopefully her parents wouldn’t be so mad at her that she wouldn’t be allowed to eat dinner. “I just remembered how angry the Mayor was that you were suggesting we honor the Grinch at all. I just figured the hatred might go both ways.” She shrugs and grins over at him. “Hate breeds hate, or so they say.”

“You’re…Really smart, Kira,” he says, smiling slowly.

“I try,” she says. There’s only a few hundred more feet until the reach the bottom of the mountain, and with a sly smirk, she tips her head toward Whoville. “Race you?”

“You’re on,” he says, and the two of them take off. 

* * *

Scott’s mother was waiting for him with two mugs of cocoa and a plate of warm cookies when he returned. “How did it go?” she asked when he walked into the dining room. She wrinkled her nose. “Hopefully not as bad as you smell.”

“Not at all!” he said, grinning and taking his scarf off. “I thought it might not work, but Kira told him if he came down, he’d be beating Mayor Argent, and that really seemed to interest him.”

This made her laugh. “He always did hate the Argents.”

“Why?” Scott asked, curiously.

“Oh, there was this whole thing back when we were young—Kate, you know, Chris’s sister, well, she pretended to have this big crush on the Grinch. Chris would always pick on him, saying there was no way Kate liked him, stuff like that. And Kate would be totally sweet on him whenever Chris wasn’t around, but was just as cruel when he was. She told the Grinch it was because she was scared of her family finding out, but only later did we all realize she and Chris were in on the whole thing together.”

The story hardly fazed him. Mayor Argent had been cruel to him as soon as he and Allison had started dating. That cruelty hadn’t ended, even though the relationship had.  “So there was a girl who was mean, so what? That’s no reason to be…I don’t know, ostracized?”

“No, it came after.” Melissa sighed and took a drink of cocoa. “You have to understand—Kate and Chris were  _mean_  kids. But popular. And the Grinch was always…weird. He was quiet and into reading and, well. Green. I was never mean to him, but I wasn’t nice to him, either. We all should have done better…” She looked away from Scott, her fingers tightening around her mug. “At Christmas, Kate convinced him to give her this extravagant gift, and Chris basically…attacked him.”

“But Chris is the good guy here?” Scott asked in disbelief. He hadn’t expected the story to go this way, at  _all_.

“Well, the Grinch did defend himself,” she said, wincing as she looked back at Scott. “And kind of…trashed the classroom after knocking Chris out?”

“Oh,” Scott said, pulling out a chair to sit down.

“Don’t sit!” his mom said, waving a hand at him. She blushed a little. “You uh—really do smell bad.”

“Ugh,” he groans, rolling his head back and glaring at the ceiling. “Fine. I’ll go take a bath. Keep my cocoa warm?” He put on his saddest face.

Melissa laughed and waved him away. “You got it, darling. Now get out of here.  _Please_.”

* * *

“What were you  _thinking_?”

Kira had expected a lecture upon returning home. She’d also expected it to happen  _inside_  the house, but instead, she was outside on account of the terrible smell, while her mother listed all the reasons she should have known better, not limited to but including:

“You could have fallen to your death!”

“The Grinch may have  _hurt_  you. Or worse, eaten you!”

“Going against the Mayor won’t help you get into Whoniversity!”

“Of all the things to rebel about, it had to be including  _the Grinch_  in Christmas celebrations?”

Her father was a lot calmer. He sipped his cider very quietly, though his sweater arms were still jingling. “This is about a boy, isn’t it?” he said, while Noshiko was still preparing another round of lecturing.

“What? No!” Kira choked out, slightly offended. Sure, she liked Scott, but in this case, she  _agreed_  with him. It was shady as Crumpit that no one ever said why the Grinch was so hated, or why he occasionally ventured into town and “bothered” everyone. “I’m genuinely passionate about sharing Christmas with  _every_  Who.”

Her mother softened. “Kira, I understand your passions. But you must learn to protect yourself. Going up the mountain, making an enemy of the Mayor—these things are dangerous. How do you think the Grinch ended up there?”

“That’s just the thing,” she sighed. “I don’t know!”

“Let’s just say it’s dangerous to make an enemy of an Argent,” her mother sighed.

* * *

Scott could hardly think of anything but the Whobilation as the month of December progressed. He and his mother were baking at full throttle to make sure that as many Whos as possible would be able to taste the famous Delgado gingerbread.

Scott was right in the middle of icing the last batch for the celebration when there was a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it,” Melissa said, setting down her own icing bag and dusting her hands on her apron. “Finish up.”

“You got it,” he said, and drew a smiling face on a gingerbaby. It was easy for him to be absorbed in his work decorating the cookies, which was actually pretty surprising, considering how much his thoughts had been drawn to worrying about how the Grinch would be perceived by everyone as the Cheer Meister, and whether or not he would get to hang out with Kira at the party, or whether he was doomed to forever be hated by Mayor Argent.

He tried—pretty successfully—not to worry about the small Christmas gift he had picked up for Kira. He would give it to her tonight, but like any good Who, she was certain to wait until Christmas to open it.

He was nearly finished when his mother reentered the kitchen.

“There’s someone here to see you, Scott,” Melissa said kindly.

“’Kay,” he said, finishing up the last cookie before turning to smile broadly at— _Kira_. “Oh, hi!” he said, blushing a little.

His mother hid a snort behind her hands, and then swept the freshly iced cookies away from the two of them. “I’ll just box these up,” she said, and vanished into the dining room.

Kira smiled at him, slightly awkward, but looking cheerful enough. “I wanted to drop your Christmas present off before Whobilation,” she said, holding up a box nervously. “Oh, and I wanted to ask if you would come with me, um, for the party? Whobilation, I mean.”

“Uh, yeah, that—yes! I—hold on, I have a present for you, too,” he said, gently touching her arm to direct her to the living room. He grimaced when he realized that he’d managed to get icing on her sleeve. “Oh, sorry, let me—“ He pulled her back to the kitchen to get a warm cloth to wipe the icing off.

She just laughed, but didn’t pull away, even stepping closer then she necessarily needed to. “It’s okay, Scott,” she said, smiling up at him. “I’m wearing a shirt that calls for icing, anyway.”

It was true, now that he looked at her in full—she had on a shirt that made her look like the cookie he’d just iced, but undeniably cuter. “You smell like peppermint,” he said, because he couldn’t think about anything else.

“Hmm,” she said, thoughtfully. “I’m glad you think so. I was worried I’d never get the stench of garbage off me.” She looked up, suddenly. “Is there mistletoe everywhere in your house? I already had to kiss your mom’s cheek twice.”

“She hangs it to make me hug and kiss her more often,” he said, dazed. He’d forgotten that it was hung over the sink, so he couldn’t protest when his mom kissed him while he was doing dishes. “I swear I wasn’t, like, trying to make you kiss me. You don’t have to.”

Chuckling, she shook her head. “Is it only mistletoe for moms, or can anyone participate?” she asked, edging closer.

“Uh?” he said.

She was blushing now, and he was sure his face matched hers. “I’m asking if I can kiss you,” she said slowly.

“Please,” he said, and leaned forward to do just that.

* * *

Kira felt full of flutters. She hardly even worried about whether the Grinch would actually show up to Whobilation as she and Scott trailed behind his mother on their way to town center. They were  _holding hands_. They had kissed under  _every_  piece of mistletoe in his house. Who cared whether or not they restructured the prejudices in this town tonight?

Okay, she still cared about that.

But she was fairly convinced that the Grinch  _would_  show up. She’d seen the delight in his eyes when she’d offered the ability to screw with the Mayor. He’d be here.

Anyway, could anything possibly go wrong when she was holding hands with  _Scott McCall_?

* * *

Everything had fallen apart as soon as the Mayor had gifted his sister with a new car. Somehow the Grinch had spiraled into a rant about consumerism that, for the most part, Scott had agreed with. Then suddenly he was throwing mistletoe at people and lighting the Christmas tree on fire and everyone was panicked and run home.

“He didn’t even try our cookies,” Scott said miserably. He was watching the fire department put out the remaining fires and trying to eat his way through the last remaining box.

Kira rubbed his back soothingly. “I’m sure he would have loved them. Maybe enough to avoid all…this.”

“Maybe.”

She grinned suddenly. “Scott, I have an idea,” she said, sitting up and starting to scratch his back. “What if we bring the Grinch this box of cookies as an apology? Maybe he’ll understand that not all of us are out to get him and he’ll come back and—I don’t know, see things from your point of view?”

“That’s actually not a bad idea,” he said slowly, sitting up and grinning at her. “Let’s—yeah, let’s do it.”

“Okay,” she said. “And I have a crazy idea, but just—hear me out. I totally saw the Grinch jump into a trash chute. I guess I never thought of it before, but all our garbage  _does_  end up with him…maybe we can just go that way.”

“My mom might kill me if I come home smelling like garbage again,” Scott pointed out.

“Maybe she won’t notice it over the smell of the smoke,” she suggested, shrugging. She rubbed his shoulders one last time before standing up and offering him a hand. “Come on! It will be fun.”

Things couldn’t possibly get worse, right?

“Okay,” he said, and took her hand. He followed her over to a chute and opened it slowly. It was dark in the tunnel, and true to form, smelled awful. “Kiss for luck?” he asked.

“I don’t see any mistletoe around here,” she said, making a big show of looking around.

“Oh!” he said, and shifted the box of cookies to his other hand. “I think it just so happens—“ He tugged a sprig of mistletoe out of his pocket and held it over his head before dramatically puckering up.

She laughed, but still curled her hand around his cheek and kissed him delicately, like she was worried she might shatter him, or like she needed the moment to be picture perfect. She drew back carefully and smiled at him. “Enough luck for you?”

“I think so,” he said, and then, still high on how much he liked this girl, he jumped into the chute.


	3. Chapter 3

“Oh, it’s you again.” The voice was furious, and it echoed across the cave. He stomped across the cave, his footsteps echoing. “I can’t believe I let you two weirdos convince me to go to that stupid  _stupid **stupid**_ ceremony. I’m disgusted that I let you fool me into thinking it was a good idea! And what  _was_ I thinking?” He paced in front of them, muttering to himself. Every couple seconds, Kira heard words like “idiot,” and “humiliating.”

 Kira groaned from her position on the ground. “Hey,” she said, pushing herself up. “You didn’t try Scott’s cookies.”

The Grinch stared at her, apparently flummoxed as to why this was relevant at all.

Scott hopped up and offered the box to him.

Grumpily, the Grinch took the box and started stuffing cookies into his mouth. Not bothering to speak clearly at all, he started talking, “Can’t ber-eve I let you twerps talg me into this. Shoulda known Argent would flub ever-ting up.”

Kira glanced at Scott, who was just gaping at how quickly the Grinch was crunching through his cookies. She snickered a little and slipped her hand into his. “I mean, honestly, I’m with you. The Mayor giving his sister the car wasn’t really in the spirit of Whobilation. You should have been leading the ceremonies,” she said, shrugging. “I guess the Mayor is probably just used to things going his way.”

Scott hummed thoughtfully.

The Grinch kept chewing.

“How do you like the cookies?” Kira asked, looking over at Scott nervously. She was still hoping they could salvage the relationship with the Grinch with the right words.

“They’re predda good,” the Grinch said. Crumbs fell out of his mouth as he spoke, and Kira couldn’t help but grimace.

Scott started to walk forward, stepping out of the trash pile. “You know,” he said slowly, as they edged toward him, “I think we really did make a difference tonight. And you really pissed off the Mayor.”

He briefly quit stuffing his face. “That’s not hard to do,” he said dismissively. “Chris will get mad at anything. He’s been like that since we were kids.”

“Yeah, but this time you made him a lot angrier than usual,” Kira pipes in. She has a feeling that if they push just the right way, something really cool might happen. “Maybe enough to make a difference.”

* * *

Scott felt like he might be missing something—he could tell that Kira was pushing the Grinch in some direction, but looking at her…he wasn’t sure she even knew what she’d get. But she was smart enough to know that change in Whoville could only be a good thing, and that the Grinch might be the one who could change it.

He thought carefully about what the Grinch had said in the square and something occurred to him. “Your revenge was kind of weak,” he said, pulling out an unimpressed air.

The Grinch made a face at him. “Your revenge was kind of weak,” he mimicked in a whiny voice. “Shut up, kid, what do you want? Some kind of miracle?”

Scott shrugged. “I’m just saying, all you did was burn everything down. Now they’re just going to put up another tree and buy  _more_ presents. Nothing will change.”

“And suddenly it’s  _my_  responsibility to change it?” He throws the box of cookies at Scott. “Get out of here, brats.” He walks away, not even bothering to show them the way out.

“Come on, Scott,” Kira says, tugging him by the hand back toward the trash chute. She seems pleased, and Scott wondered if what he said worked after all. 

* * *

On Christmas Eve, Kira walks to the McCalls house again, a slight spring in her step. She and Scott had agreed to open their presents a day early, so it could be special, just for them.

She was, admittedly, nervous about what she had picked out for Scott. They’d been dating for less than a week, and while they’d spent plenty of time together, she was nervous about the gift she’d picked out for him. She’d spent enough time in his room to know he liked to read. She figured he’d at least enjoy reading the novel she’d picked out, but she wasn’t sure it was personal enough for a  _boyfriend_.

She did her best to stay calm. Something big was going to happen tonight—bigger than any other Christmas. She could just feel it. She didn’t want anxiety about whether Scott would like her gift to keep her from experiencing—well, whatever it would be.

Scott answered the door when she knocked and pulled her into a quick kiss under the mistletoe hanging just inside the doorframe. “You look beautiful,” he told her. “I love the bows.”

“Thank you,” she said cheerfully, dipping into a tiny curtsey. “I’m a fan of them myself.”

“Well come on in,” he said, linking fingers with her and guiding her into the house. “I still have the presents under the tree.”

Inside, Melissa was humming and tapping away at a WhoPad. She had the day off, but apparently had to go in for a shift early the next morning. She and Scott would celebrate when she got home that night. “Hi, Kira,” she said, smiling up at her. “How have you been?”

“Really good,” she said, beaming at her. She sat on the couch and watched Scott crawl under the tree to fish out the gifts—one for her and one for him.

As he crossed the room to sit next to her, he had a slight bounce in his step. “Same time?” he asked, setting her gift in her lap.

It felt solid, and it was a similar shape to his. She wondered if he’d gotten her a book, too and felt a little relieved. It was probably personal enough. “Sounds good. On three?”

“Three,” he agreed.

“One.” She tucked her fingers underneath the edge of the paper, feeling the tape give ever so slightly.

He elbowed her. “No cheating. Two.”

She rolled her eyes. “Three.” She yanked, then, ripping the paper in her haste. There was just something so satisfying in hearing the tear of the paper. She’d never been one to save the wrapping, no matter how nice it was.

“This is my favorite moment,” he said as he unwrapped his own present.

“Opening presents?” she asked. She was pulling away the last of the paper and smiling down at a leather-bound journal.

“No,” he said.

She looked at him and found him already watching her with a content smile on his face. “What?” He still had paper covering the cover of the book, so she knew he wasn’t excited about that.

“Watching people open presents,” he said. He finished tugging the paper off, and the grin spread across his face even wider.

It  _was_  a pretty good moment.

* * *

Scott woke up to a thump. He rolled on his side to look at his alarm clock and blinked blearily at the numbers. 3:23 a.m.? What?

There was another thump, and now he was alert. He grabbed the baseball bat and carefully crept out of his room. It was probably nothing but—

“Santa?” he said in disbelief. He lowered the bat.

Santa darted behind the tree quickly. “Uh. Yes. It’s me, Jolly Old St…Mick?”

That was definitely not Santa, but he thought he knew who it was. “What are you doing?” he asked, wondering what the Grinch would say.

“I noticed that there’s a light out on your tree,” Santa said. Green, furry fingers flicked a light that was, in fact, out. “I’m just going to take it back to my workshop, and, uh, fix it!”

“You’re going to steal our tree,” Scott said flatly. Now that he was looking, he noticed that all the presents were already gone. He got a sinking feeling in his gut. Was the Grinch so upset at him and Kira that he’d decided to steal all their things? He was glad, suddenly, that he’d given Kira the journal the day before. “Do you know whose house this is?” Inexplicably, he felt betrayed.

“Of  _course_  I do. I’m Santa. I know everything,” he said. He peeked between branches. “This is, uh, your house. Scott.”

His heart sank. Maybe he could make it up to him, though? “Hey, Santa?”

“Whaddaya want, kid?” His patience was obviously wearing thin.

“Just make sure to give the Grinch something nice, okay?”

That caught him off guard. “The Grinch? That old jerk? Why should I?”

“I don’t think he’s really that bad,” Scott said sincerely. “He just doesn’t remember how to be nice.”

“I’ll think about it,” the Grinch responds. “Now why don’t you head back to bed, kid?”

“Goodnight…Santa,” he said, trudging back up the stairs and collapsing back into bed. He had no idea what he was going to wake up too, but… At least things would be interesting.

* * *

Kira woke up to a scream. She jerked awake and lurched out of bed, hurrying down the hall to see what was going on. “Mom?” she called. She had horrible visions of someone attacking her mother in their own home

“No!” her mother cried out from the living room.

“What is it?” she demanded, running into the room. She didn’t have any kind of weapon, but she’d use her bare hands to stop someone from hurting her mom.

Her mother was alone in the room, though—completely alone. The milk and cookies were gone from the table. Even the Santa plate had vanished. That struck Kira as odd, but what really caught her attention was the bare corner of the room where the tree had stood.

Past tense. The tree was gone. So were the presents.

So it  _was_  a special Christmas—and the Grinch  _had_ —she needed to go.

She didn’t even bother changing out of her pajamas, just tugging on her snow boots and a coat. She had to get to Mount Crumpit.

* * *

“Shouldn’t you be at the hospital?” Scott asked.

His mom stopped pacing for a second to glare at him. “We were  _robbed_. No, I’m not going to work. We need to report this!” Fruitlessly, she hung up and dialed again. “I just can’t get through to the police.”

He didn’t know how to tell her that he  _knew_  who had committed the crime without incriminating himself, so he walked over to the window and drew back the curtains.

Yesterday, their neighbors across the street had had a full lawn display of Christmas trees made of lights and candy canes that lined their pathway. It was all gone.

Oh,  _no_. He pushed the curtains back further and looked at the house diagonal from them. All their lights were gone. At the house on the other side, their blow up, waving snowman was gone.

“Mom?” he said nervously. “I think I know why you can’t get through to the police.”

Melissa crossed the room and looked out the window. “Holy sh—“

* * *

It was a cold morning, and Kira was starting to regret not stopping to put socks on. She kept hurrying through town though, trying to look up Mount Crumpit. The Grinch couldn’t have pulled all this off with the trash chutes—no way. He’d need some kind of transportation, and he could be any where on the mountain.

Whos were all scattered on the street, shouting at each other tearfully. “It was all just  _gone,_ ” she heard someone say as she hurried by them.

There was no time to commiserate. Everything would fail if she didn’t talk to the Grinch before Mayor Argent led a charge up the mountain.

The fog cleared briefly, and she saw a huge red spot near the top of the mountain.

_There._

She fell into a run.

* * *

“We need to get downtown,” Scott said, putting his shoes on. “If everyone has their stuff missing, then they’re going to blame the Grinch and stuff could get really dangerous.”

“You’re right,” Melissa said, and gave up on calling the police. “I’m going to get ready for work. Someone is going to get hurt before this is over, and I need to be ready—“

“Be safe,” he hollered as he tugged his coat on. He needed to get to Town Square before the mayor turned the frightened civilians into an angry mob. 

* * *

She almost felt comfortable walking up Mount Crumpit this time—almost, because she knew how to not get lost on the mountain. Only problem was that she knew she was on a time crunch and she needed to get to the Grinch.

She could almost make out the big red spot, now, and she thought it looked like—a sleigh?

Huh.

She started climbing faster.

* * *

“Look what you’ve done, Scott!” the Mayor shouted at him when Scott managed to push his way to the front of the crowd. “Because of you, the Grinch has stolen Christmas. Everything is ruined!”

“That’s not—“

“Every year is  _supposed_  to be a celebration,” he lamented, pacing back and forth on the fountain. He was wearing a very fluffy pink bathrobe that Scott would have snickered about in any other circumstances. “All we get this year is misery and— _Grinchiness_.”

Scott couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “You’re missing the point!”

“I tried to tell you,” the Mayor continued, ignoring Scott. “I tried to tell  _all_ of you. The Grinch didn’t deserve our support, and now look! He’s taken everything!” He threw his hands up dramatically.

Several people in the crowd made sympathetic noises. Someone let out a tearful wail.

“But no!” he continued. “You had to listen to a foolish little boy, who hasn’t even—who doesn’t even understand how the world works in the first place! I hope you’re very proud of what you’ve done, Scott.”

He lifted his chin. “I am.”

The crowd gasps.

“I’m glad he took our presents!” Scott yelled. “I’m glad.”

“You’re glad!” Mayor Argent laughed. “You’re glad that the Grinch destroyed—nay,  _pulverized_ Christmas.”

He scoffed, amazed by the antics of this man. “You can’t hurt Christmas, Mr. Mayor,” Scott said, folding his arms and shaking his head firmly. “Because Christmas isn’t about the lights or the trees or the presents.” It couldn’t be. He wouldn’t believe it.

“This is a child!” the Mayor yelled, disgusted.

“But I’m  _right_ ,” he yelled right back. “And all I want for Christmas is to spend it with the people I love—my mom, and the Stilinskis—and—and Kira!” He was kind of glad he couldn’t see her in the square yet. Four days of dating was  _definitely_  too soon to say “I love you.”

People cooed and awwed, each of them turning to hug their loved ones. Scott felt something settle in him and he smiled in delight. This—this was Christmas.

* * *

Kira finally reached the top of the mountain, where the Grinch’s sleigh was resting. “Mr. Grinch!” she yelled out. “Are you there?”

She could hear the Whos starting to sing down in Town Square. She stopped to look back at it, grinning in delight. Scott must have said something to make the Whos realize the real meaning of Christmas wasn’t in the gifts or—

Above her, she heard the Grinch cry out in great pain.

“Mr. Grinch!” she yelled, stumbling up the mountain in a run.

She found him laying on the ground, gasping and staring at his chest. His dog was standing over him, whimpering. “Are you okay?” she asked, leaning over him.

He sat up and started to cry. “What’s happening to me?”

“I don’t know!” she said, frowning at him.

He stopped crying, suddenly, looking up at her in wonder. “I’m all…toasty inside.” He wiped a tear. “And I’m leaking.” Even stranger, he grabbed Kira and hugged her. “Oh, twerp,” he moaned. “I  _love_ ya!”

Frozen in confusion, she slowly hugged him back. “What?”

“The sleigh!” he gasped suddenly, releasing her. “I have to give it back!”

She looked up at the top of the mountain. “If we hurry—“

The two of them climbed up the mountain as quickly as possible and grabbed hold of the sleigh, pulling it back from the edge slowly.

Her arms ache as they pulled it back.

“Let’s go!” he said, and the two of them climbed on. 

* * *

Scott was hurrying downtown toward the hospital. He’d managed to make his mom a quick lunch from the limited stock left in their house. The Grinch had really cleaned them out. Still, there was enough to make his mother a sandwich with leftover fizz pheasant.

“Look out!” he heard suddenly, and saw Kira and the Grinch barreling down the street in a  _huge_  sleigh.

They crashed into the Christmas tree as he was running toward them.

“Hi, Scott!” Kira said, as her head popped around the edge. “Have you seen my parents?”

The Grinch jumped out of the sleigh. “Merry Christmas, one and all!” He cried.

Sheriff Stilinski approached the sleigh. “All right!” he called out. “What do we have here?”

“You  _got_  me, officer!” the Grinch cried, moving to stand in front of him. “I did it! I’m the Grinch that stole Christmas. And I’m…sorry.”  He held his hands out to be cuffed.

The Sheriff frowned at him, hands on his hips. He seemed to be thinking pretty hard. He glanced over at Scott and made a questioning face.

Scott gave him a thumbs-up.

The Grinch peeked up at the Sheriff when nothing happened. “Aren’t you gonna cuff me? Put me in a chokehold?  _Blind_ me with pepper spray?”

“You heard him, Sheriff!” Mayor Argent said, approaching the two of them. His pink bathrobe fluttered in the cold air. “He admitted it!” He leaned over to whisper in the Sheriff’s ear—“I’d go with the pepper spray.”

The sheriff nodded. “Yes, I heard him, all right. He said he was sorry. Besides, it looks like everything is all here and accounted for!”

Kira came to stand next to Scott, slipping her hand into his. She kissed his cheek quickly. “I knew it,” she murmured in his ear.

“What?” he asked, grinning down at her.

“I knew this would be the best Christmas  _ever_.”

She wasn’t wrong, he thought, as he watched the Grinch pass out all the presents he’d taken. People seemed twice as delighted to give them to each other as they had before.

This. This is how Christmas was meant to be. 


End file.
